Call for PapersRuskinian TheatreContemporary Issues in Theatre HistoriographyUniversity of Birmingham (UK), 6-7 July, 2007Proposals are invited for papers and respondents for a two daycolloquium sponsored by the History Department at Lancaster University(UK), the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts, University of Birmingham(UK), and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK).This colloquium is part of the AHRC funded project: Ruskinian Theatre:the Aesthetics of the Nineteenth-Century London Popular Stage,1870-1900, which seeks to investigate the interrelationships andinfluences of John Ruskin's aesthetic and social theories on the popularLondon stage in the late nineteenth-century. Our meeting in 2005focussed on "Ruskin, Shakespeare, and the Victorian Theatre" and waspart of the "Victorian Life Writing" conference at Lancaster University.In 2006, we met at Lancaster University for a colloquium on theVictorian Theatre and Visual Culture, and a collection of essays hasbeen developed from this meeting. In 2007, in our final meeting at theUniversity of Birmingham, we'll be exploring the historiographicalissues to arise from this and other innovative work in theatre historyand historiography.In 2007, our focus is on the re-visionings and rethinkings of theatrehistory and historiography. In the last 20 years, there has been asignificant movement in developing new approaches to theatre history andhistoriography which has been labelled "The New Theatre History." Muchof this work has focused on the theatre of Britain in the nineteenthcentury, in particular in the first three decades of the century, andits final years, as significant moments of the transition intomodernity. The Ruskinian Theatre project takes as its rationale arevision of the standard narratives of theatre and cultural history inthis period which ignore the popular theatre: we challenge the focus ofstandard theatre histories on the 'literary drama' and an emergentModernist aesthetic.In this call for papers we seek offers of original work in theatrehistory and historiography which seek to examine new standard narrativesof theatre history. While the focus of the project is on the period1870-1901, in this call for papers, we do not preclude work dealing withother national theatre culture or time periods. We are particularlyinterested in new theatre history and historiographical research whichattempts to marry detailed archival work within new theoreticalformulations, particularly those emerging after the "linguistic turn" ofpoststructuralism. We also interested in the insights derived fromcross- and interdisciplinary work, particularly from scholars whose workis concerned with the relationships between theatre history and culturalhistory.Papers of 30 minutes length are invited which address these themes:* debates over the 'literary' and/or 'legitimate' drama vs. thepopular and the spectacular* relationships of practice between literary theatre, Modernisttheatre, and popular and spectacular theatre* the concept of a 'National Theatre' and/or a 'National Drama'* studies of the interactions of theatre managements andcontemporary artists* regional theatre histories* the self-representation of women theatre practitioners* the relationship between theatre history and cultural historyand cultural studies* the use of theatre and performance history by historians ofsociety and cultureProposals should reach the convenors by 30 April 2007. We particularlyencourage offers of papers from postgraduate students, and expect thatthere will be two postgraduate bursaries subsidising attendance.Further enquiries, applications for postgraduate bursaries and proposalsshould be directed to:Peter Yeandle, Ruskinian Theatre Research Associate, Department ofHistory, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YG,p.yeandle_at_lancaster.ac.uk.